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Sunday, 21 December 2014

It's beginning to look a lot like Xmas....

Well people it's that time of year again.
Santa, the constant sound of Christmas tunes and most importantly....CHRISTMAS PAAAAAARTIES!

As you can imagine, the salon has been a hive of activity this month, although it can be stressful fitting clients in and working longer hours I always look forward to the influx of appointments for festive styling.
Requests this year have ranged from soft, loose up dos to the classic french roll but one style that has been a clear winner has been soft curls/waves.
So I've decided to give a run through of how this look can be achieved, my fabulous client Rachel has been kind enough to allow me to photograph the process. (She had booked in to get glamorous for her 6th year dance.)

Firstly, start with clean,dry hair.
Rachel didn't need prior straightening as her hair is relatively straight but if you have unruly and/or course hair you may need to smooth the hair with a round brush blow dry or (if pushed for time) straightening with a smoothing iron.

(Setting to work! Michelle on make-up.)

Section the back from the front (as seen in the above picture) and take horizontal sections about 2 inches thick (starting at the nape of the neck) and mist with a strong hold hair spray, then curl using a styling iron.

Now to 'set' the hair for more staying power, as you curl a section, wined the curl back up and clip it into place.
I prefer to use pin curl clips (which you can pick up at any salon supply shop) you can use kirbies if need be but I find they leave marks in the hair.
Once you have pinned up each section spray again with hair spray.

When you've worked your way up the head to the crown, repeat the process on the sides of the head.
The finished result should look similar to this.....

You might be wondering I use this technique.
Basically, clipping the hair up in this way allows the hair to cool down set in the curl shape. This makes the curl last longer.
Leave the hair like this for 5-10 minutes then touch the curls to make sure the hair is cold, when cold you can remove the clips!

Looks a bit Goldilocks inspired, doesn't it?
Next take a bristle brush and thoroughly brush though the curls.
This separates and softens the curls, it will look a bit bushy but once done use your fingers to tease the curls back into form.
To look like this.....

Then finish with a good amount of hair spray.
If you are worried about the staying power of your curls I'd advise making your curls tighter as they will drop as the night goes on.

Doesn't she look gorgeous!?!

If you'd like to check out Michelle's make-up looks, please check out her Facebook page by clicking HERE